Hip Hip Horay!

It's our last day!
Well at least for Sean and I, we will be flying home tomorrow. While I am extremely happy to be heading back home, we are very sad to be leaving Daddy.

It's true that without us around Jason can do things like sleep in, watch action packed movies as loud as he wants, eat what, when , and where he likes, and of course ride his bike everyday! But all of that doesn't quite compare to a sweet little voice waking you up by saying, "good morning dad! You wana play backhoe?" (this has been happening every morning around 6:30, and is usually followed with a toy backhoe being thrust into Jason's face)

All of those perks also don't compare to this...

Or this..


Or this...


Or this..

Yes, I will be in trouble for posting that one :)

Or even this.


Yup, we are sure going to miss Dad!!


The really sad part is that we don't know when we will see dad again. He is scheduled to be home for Thanksgiving, but lets hope he can come home before that!


Since 2 out of the 3 Brouwer's are now leaving L.A. this will probably be my last "Brouwer's in L.A." blog post. The blog has helped me stay in touch by sharing my pictures, thoughts, and experiences with all of you back home. Thanks for reading, and thank you for your feedback, I really appreciate it. I will be home soon, so if you miss your daily dose of Brouwer blog, you can always call, email, or stop on by!

So now for some loose ends. Here are a few random pictures that did not quite make it in the posts this week.

Last Sunday we ventured back to Rodeo Dr., this time with Jason.


I know, I know, can you believe we lived down here, 30 min from Disneyland, and didn't go, but we made it to Rodeo Dr. twice!

We actually plan on making a trip to Disney in the future when the kids are big enough to enjoy it, and I am not so big and can enjoy it :)

While visiting Rodeo, Jason spotted this car. Apparently it is some super duper nice car that makes all men's testosterone filled hearts burst with excitement.


It is a Bugatti Veyron. It is one of the fastest and most expensive street legal cars you can buy. It costs over a million dollars.




On a totally different topic, I thought I would show you Sean's Halloween costume. I was looking for a pumpkin costume for him since he adores pumpkins. While at the store he spotted this monkey costume and yelled, "look mom a monkey!!! It's Curious George!!!" (he also loves Curious George) I took him in the dressing room, tried on the costume, then he wouldn't take it off!!
He wore it around all day. Since it is back up in the 90's down here I have had to lay down the law about only wearing the monkey costume in the air conditioned apartment. I don't want to be the mom on the news with the heat stroke kid in a monkey suite.

Later in the day I heard some noise coming out of the bedroom, this is what I found.

A little monkey, in the closet, pretending to drink out of an empty milk carton. Please don't judge me, I'm just reporting the facts. (hmm dad, where did he get that idea anyway)

He could tell by my reaction that this was both funny and a no, no, so he ran laughing to the next closet in an attempt to hide from me. I guess it is hard to take your mom seriously when she is chasing you with a camera in one hand, laughing and saying "come back here you little milk guzzling monkey!"


Every morning Sean and I drive Jason to work so we can have the car for the day. We usually have to leave before 7:30 so Sean and I are often still in our pajamas. Here is a picture of Sean in the parking lot this morning, in his Superman PJ's.


This is also what he wore when I went into the local coffee shop for my morning latte. Again, don't judge me, I really needed the coffee.

They don't have drive through coffee stands in CA!! No, I'm not kidding! This is supposed to be L.A., the super enlightened city, superior to all other cities, right. Well, not in the coffee arena, no sir. Not only do they not have any drive throughs, they really don't have good coffee. You only have a few options, Starbucks, which of course gives you the same good cup of coffee as you would find in Seattle, and The Coffee Bean, a local chain. Neither offer drive throughs, apparently everyone has a personal assistant to get there cup o joe for them. Even Porto's gave me a blank stare when I asked for a double tall 2% latte. Crazy town.

Well it took me a while but I found a little corner coffee and tea store that makes a Seattle worthy latte. A couple mornings a week you may find Superman and his yawning mom purchasing there morning coffee. (well, not any more, we are going home now)

So today we are packing up our stuff, doing laundry, and spending our last little bit of precious time with daddy.


By, by L.A.


Sarah

Smoke

Well, we are a safe distance from the flames of the wild fires, but unfortunately we are getting the smoke.



These pictures are from yesterday afternoon.


The air actually doesn't smell bad but according to the news the air quality is a concern.


We had ash on our car this morning!


Of course it doesn't help that it is back into the 90's. It's mid October!!


These pictures are form our balcony.








Since Sean falls into the "at risk" category for respiratory issues, we have decided to heed the air quality warnings and stay indoors. Which means more super fun crafts!! :)


Being the mother of a respiratory challenged child you can imagine that I have been paying very close attention to the air quality reports. I currently have an up to the min report on my laptop at all times.

I know he needs a hair cut! I am ready to cut it in his sleep if he doesn't let someone do it during the day!


I ended staying up too late reading up on air quality, what it is, what they measure, how they measure, reports, medical journal articles on children with reactive airways, short term effects, long term effects.......... After all of that I have decided to move to the hills away from all vehicles and industry. Just kidding, but I do know that I would never have this little guys lungs live down here permanently.


At this point he is fine and there seems to be no sign of wheezing. There is however huge signs of cabin fever, or shall I say active 2 year old stuck in a small apartment fever! I have had a hard time breathing, but that is probably Ethan pushing all my organs up into my lung cavity. :)


Speaking of Ethan, with all this indoor craft time on my hands I decided to make Ethan a Halloween costume.


Sean is also passing the time with his new weed whacker flyer. Yes, he is reading it in Spanish! Clever boy.


Sean and I are flying home this Friday, we will be staying home for good this time. I have mixed feelings about this decision. I am so excited to be home and to be able to prepare for Ethan's arrival, but I am very sad to be leaving Jason and separating the boys. We do not know when Jason will be able to come home, so it will be single mom time for me. It also means only a few more blogs!!

If anyone has any questions about ozone, carbon monoxide, or nitrogen oxide give me a call :)
Sarah

Venice Beach

Hmmm, how do I explain Venice beach? I told you yesterday that Jason and I had driven south down the CA coast and looked at the beaches from Santa Monica to Redondo. We decided to go back and spend the rest of Saturday at Venice beach because it appeared to have the most beautiful coast line, winding board walk, play structures, and a permanent "street fair".

It is a beautiful beach!

Venice beach is extremely well known as one of the destination beaches of CA. It has been used for hundreds of Movies and TV shows, ie: White Men Can't Jump, Grease, 24, CHiPs (whoa, that bring back some memories). It is called Muscle beach, which I will explain later, and is home to the famous Miss Venice bikini contest (I was invited this year, but declined). It is also the home to many famous people, and it is supposedly a great surf spot.

This is the boardwalk or promenade that winds along between the beach and the town. If you ever see someone roller blading in a bikini along a boardwalk in a CA movie, it is probably Venice beach.

So yes, the beach is beautiful, but that seems to be where the beauty ends. It is an extremely filthy place.

This is the "street fair" that is a permanent attraction at Venice beach. It is a virtual carnival running year round with street performers, artists, jugglers, acrobats, mimes, fortune tellers, prophets and more. It is a side walk circus with extremely bizarre sights, smells and sounds.

Jason and I were totally unaware the Venice beach is also well know as one of the counter-culture capitals. I can only explain it as a combo of New Orleans Marti Gras and San Francisco. In fact I found a web site today that rated it as third to these two cities in irreverence, and funky eclectic culture.

Imagine the sound of bongo drums and tribal singing, along with the smell of burning incense and hot dog stands mixed together. There are people walking around in bizarre costumes, if they are dressed at all! Some people have feathers coming out of them, some have reptiles wrapped around them, and some are just face down in a drugged out stupor.

The street vendors were also out of the ordinary. This one is selling bones, spears, and other tribal weapons.

I was trying to be inconspicuous while taking pictures, I was even holding the camera on my pregnant belly to be less obvious while trying to capture the scene. Ooops, this guy saw me!

I told you the air was bad down here!

A rollerblading (obviously high) street performer.

Snake charmer

I don't think he was selling anything, he was just happy to advertise his love for Aunt Mary and cousin doobie.

Jesus with a sleeping bag.

This guy was a street performer, he was jumping and doing flips over people. Yes, he was very good.

He may not look like it, but the sign does say he is the master.

The token Hari Krishna's.

And of course your political activists.

I have left out several pictures, including the 100 tattoo parlors and marijuana pipe store fronts.


The drug culture doesn't even attempt to keep a low profile here. I am pretty sure drugs are still illegal in CA, but from what I saw they are not prosecuting in Venice beach.


L.A. is currently trying to "clean up" the area by providing free clinics and rehab facilities. We were literally stepping over people slumped over on the walkway and others scratching the "bugs" off of them, so these clinics are much needed.

Muscle Beach, home of Arnold Schwarzenegger's original muscles.


This is an outdoor work out area where fanatic bodybuilders pump iron in a public show of strength. (could you even imagine the maintenance on outdoor work out equipment in WA)

This is the gymnastics area, there are also Basketball courts and racket ball courts. Everything is free, except for the weight area, it is $5 per day.

Whoa.......talk about Muscle beach!!!!

Nice dismount (insert wolf whistle)

Well, like everything else in L.A., this place is super crowded. After having our fill of the sights, sounds and smells of the street fair we decided to go play on the beach.

Sean had a blast chasing the birds.

Along with mass population comes mass filth. The beaches may be beautiful in CA but they are also very polluted. The news has regular updates about the water quality on the coast and there are signs warning of the "pollution level" for the day. Here is a giant drain emptying right into the Venice waters and beach.

This is what is draining into the ocean. Sean and Jason didn't swim at this beach because of the pollution level, not to mention we had walked past this! Even though Sean had not swam with the hypodermic needles I still sanitized him after leaving the beach.

Sorry to end with that gross picture. I hope you enjoyed your tour of Venice beach.

See you tomorrow,

Sarah